SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University volleyball team fell in a tough match, 3-2, to Colorado Christian University on Saturday evening.

The Cougars took sets one, four, and five, and the Yellow Jackets took sets two and three. The scores went as follows: 25-19, 25-22, 26-24, 25-23, and 15-13.

The Green and Gold fall to 6-9 on the season, and 3-3 in conference play, while CCU improves to 7-7, and 5-1 in conference action.

In the second set, the two teams traded off points until 20-all. The Yellow Jackets scored two quick points to lead, 22-20, with a kill by Sierra Stugelmeyer and an error by the Cougars, forcing CCU to take a timeout. After the timeout, Fehrin Ward scored a service ace to increase the lead 23-20.

The Cougars stopped the Yellow Jackets with a kill by Sophia Proano. CCU came within one off the next play, a kill from Jacey Johnson, to trail 23-22. After the BHSU timeout, Stugelmeyer scored again to set up the set point at 24-22. Ellise Lech ended the set with a kill at 25-22, and tied the match, 1-1.

The second set extended into extra points. The two teams again traded off points for the duration of the match until the end. The Yellow Jackets were one point away, at 24-22, to end the set, but two kills by the Cougars kept them in the match, and forced a win by two situation.

Black Hills State went ahead, 25-24, with Valerie Blake assisting Laurel Lech for the kill. From there, Stugelmeyer came up big with the set ending kill to take the set, 26-24, and lead the match, 2-1.

In the fourth set, the Yellow Jackets had found their momentum, as they jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. Stugelmeyer started the run, notching the first point. Ward scored the second point with an ace, followed by two errors by the Cougars. From there, CCU managed to end the streak with a kill by Proano to trail 4-1.

Later on in the match, the Yellow Jackets were trailing 22-17. After a BHSU timeout, E. Lech scored a point to start a 4-0 run for the Green and Gold. Three errors on the Cougars brought Black Hills State within one point at 22-21, but it was not enough to pull out the win, as CCU took the set, 25-23, and tied the match, 2-2, forcing a fifth set.

In the fifth set, the two teams traded off points until 12-all, when a kill by Cali Bahnsen gave the Cougars the one point lead at 13-12. After the second and final timeout for BHSU, an attack error by CCU brought the Green and Gold within one at 14-13, knocking on the door to take the set. However, a kill by Angela Jurek ended the match at 15-13, and the Cougars took the win, 3-2.

"I'm really proud of the team. We stayed aggressive through the whole match," said head coach Kristin Carmichael. "We will work next week to fix a few things and get two points better. We are going to find a way to win."

Stugelmeyer led the way for the offense, notching 16 kills and a .343 hitting percentage. Kenzie Kazmer tallied 13 kills, while Ellise Lech had 12 kills. Laurel Lech registered 40 assists on the night.

On defense, Sydney Ederhoff recorded 45 digs. Cheyenne Palu worked alongside Ederhoff, tallying six blocks, while the team had 12 blocks total.

Black Hills State hits the road for October, starting with Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents Chadron State and Regis University on Friday, October 6 and Saturday, October 7. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.